Weather Talk: 3½-day blizzard struck region on this date in ’96

Late on this date in 1996, the entire region was hit by a blizzard that lasted three and a half days. This caused a great deal of trouble at area universities as the blizzard coincided with final semester exams.

Snow was already deep in 1996 after 26.4 inches of snow had fallen in November. During the December blizzard, another 8 inches fell, and three days of blizzard-force winds whipped drifts up to 20 feet high.

In the coming days, two more snowstorms would drop another 8 inches of snow, bringing the average snow depth to 18 inches of very packed snow.

From Dec. 22 through the 26, some of the coldest Christmastime weather in Fargo-Moorhead history settled in. Temperatures never rose above 6 below for five days. On Christmas morning it was 27 below, with a high temperature of 14 below.